6 Fall Container Garden Ideas That Look Gorgeous Until the First Frost of Winter

Sometimes it seems like fall-blooming flowers are few and far between, beyond the traditional mums, pansies, and asters. Actually, there are many perennials that thrive in cooler weather and perform till a hard freeze hits. In addition, several annuals continue to bloom through a light frost.

If your containers need a fall refresh, here are some colorific ideas for containers that will keep your planters looking good throughout autumn – and some until winter blows its icy breath.

Add these combinations of fall flowers for pots to your porch or patio this autumn for a stunning display that lasts all season long.

Choosing Fall Colors

When selecting fall flowers for containers, consider the colors of other decor you are using such as nearby garden furniture, door wreaths, pumpkins, gourds, and dried materials. You can match those colors to the container theme.

Autumn colors include deep burgundy, rich browns, oranges, and reds, deep violets and blues, and olive, yellow, and dark mauve. You can go with a warm palette, using similar sumptuous shades in the red and orange family or contrasting colors such as violet and yellow to design containers that coordinate with other fall decor.

Preparing Your Containers

If you are reusing summer containers, take stock of what plants still work and what needs replacing. You may have plants, such as ornamental grasses, salvias, or coleus, that still work as the tall plant or thriller in a container combination. If it still looks good, it could take the container well into fall. If a plant looks a bit rugged after three months in a container, swap it out for something new.

If you are replacing a plant or two, you can reuse the same soil but work in some fresh potting soil (Content Editor Laura’s favorite is this potting mix from Miracle-Gro) and a balanced fertilizer, like this organic plant food from Walmart, to spruce it up.

If you are starting over with all new plants, replace the soil with a premium potting mix. You can add extra perlite to increase drainage as well. Fill the soil to within 1 inch (2.5 cm) of the top of the container to allow room for watering. Make sure all the pots you are using have at least one drainage hole.

Container Combinations for Autumn

When selecting plants for fall containers, choose plants that require the same light and moisture. For example, if you are creating a container for a shady area, such as a covered porch, look for plants that require dappled shade to full shade. If they are on the edge of the porch and get some sun, go with part shade or part sun.

Plants also need similar moisture requirements, whether moist, moderate, or dry. Combining a plant that needs moist soil with one that needs dry soil could spell disaster for one of them.

The suggestions below include thriller, filler, and spiller plants, an easy design idea that works. The tallest plant, or thriller, goes in the center or back of the container. Then fill in with medium-sized plants and finally add a few that spill over the edge.

A perennial’s top growth generally survives until a hard frost. Some annuals, such as petunias, marigolds, dusty miller, and snapdragons tolerate a light frost or two.

1. Easy Crowdpleasers

For the thriller, use ornamental grasses like little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium ‘Standing Ovation’), salvia (mealycup sage cultivars are long-blooming, Salvia farinacea) goldenrod (Solidago spp.), coneflower (Echinacea spp.), upright sedum (Hylotelephium spectabile, ‘Autumn Joy’ or ‘Autumn Fire’), or New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae).

For fillers, choose perennials such as the evergreen coral bells (Heuchera spp.), catmint (Nepeta spp. ‘Walkers Low’ longest blooming), blanket flower (Gaillardia spp.), pansies (Viola x wittrockiana), mums (Chrysanthemum x morifolium), and ornamental cabbage and kale (Brassica oleracea) which are cold hardy to early winter. Pansies and mums are treated as annuals but they survive light freezes.

For spillers, try creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum), creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) or million bells (Calibrachoa spp.). If you use catmint as a filler, it will spill over the edges, so you don’t need a spiller. Pansies also work as a spiller.

2. Hot & Sunny Southern Containers

In warmer USDA growing zones, you can dip into the annuals and tender tropicals. For thrillers, choose erect plants such as ‘Fireworks’ purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’), colorful coleus (Coleus scutellarioides), or annual salvia (Salvia coccinea or S. splendens). Canna lilies work well for large containers, such as an entryway.

For fillers, choose plants such as compact asters (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii ‘Wood’s Blue’), pansies, ornamental cabbage and kale, snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus), petunias (Petunia x hybrida), lantana (Lantana camara), and ‘Orange Marmalade’ crossandra (Crossandra infundibuliformis).

For spiller plants, try million bells, trailing verbena (Verbena x hybrida), petunia (Petunia x hybrida), sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima), or bacopa (Sutera cordata).

3. Colorful Flowers & Foliage for Shade

For the thriller, there are still vibrant-colored coleus in the garden centers that will grow until frost. Other thrillers include the evergreen autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), goldenrod, and Short’s aster (Symphyptrichum shortii).

For fillers use the colorful, evergreen coral bells, hosta varieties, yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea), hardy geranium (Geranium spp.), pansies, Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra), sedges (Carex spp.). Hakone grass and pansies will spill over as well.

4. Brighten Up Shady Southern Gardens

For thrillers, look for colorful ti plants (Cordyline fruticosa), multi-colored caladium (Caladium x hortulanum), vibrant-colored coleus, and ‘Dragon Wing’ begonias (Begonia x hybrida). For fillers use pansies, wishbone flower (Torenia spp.), wax begonia (Begonia semperflorens), or impatiens (Impatiens spp.). For spillers, look for pansies, wishbone flower, or bacopa.

5. Stunning Standout Plants

Fall-blooming plants that are tall and wide look good by themselves in a container. You can tuck in small gourds or pumpkins if there is space. Here are a few standout plants that look great on their own in a container:

• Mums – USDA zones 4-9, assorted fall colors, 2 to 4 feet tall (0.6 to 1.2 m)
• Sneezeweed – USDA zones 3-9, yellow, orange, red, and bicolor flowers, 3 to 5 feet tall (0.9 to 1.5 m)
• New England Aster – USDA zones 3-8, red, purple, or pink flowers, 3 to 6 feet tall (0.9 to 1.8 m)
• New York Aster – USDA zones 4-8, white, pink, blue, or violet flowers, 4 feet tall (1.2 m)

6. Gorgeous Evergreens

For a container that is evergreen year-round, try this combination of a small, needled shrub with a spiller. Mulch it well to insulate the roots. Move the container to a protected area for the coldest part of winter. Continue to water during the winter unless it receives regular rainfall.

Choose a small, slow growing, needled evergreen such as dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Tiny Tower’) or dwarf Japanese yew (Podocarpus macrophyllus ‘Pringles’. Plant in the center of the container.

A needled creeping juniper planted near the edge of the pot, such as juniper (Juniperus horizontalis ‘Pancake’) cascades over the container for an evergreen “spiller” that is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9.

Fill in around the base with mini pumpkins or gourds. In December, replace the pumpkins for shiny ornaments, pine cones, lights, and red berries.

Container Gardening Essentials